May 20, 2007

Gen 28 : 1 0-19

We are living in an age which is the age of the greatest skepticism ever, of man’s ability to know about anything beyond this earthly realm. We are told that what really matters is the here and now.

Secularism means that :“Now” ism..it comes from a Latin word seculum which means “the now.” We are told that there is no way to really know about this God thing..if there is a God it is impossible to know him because he is utterly unknowable. There is no way that we can bridge the gap from earth to heaven.

Now here in this passage of scripture we see that is not true. There is a stairway to heaven and it has nothing to do with Led Zeppelin. But a real tangible way to heaven.

I want to note several thoughts about this passage I call getting a hint of truth.

First I want to notice briefly that Isaac has really caught the hint of truth in giving sound advice to his rightful heir. God’s chosen .That is found here in verses1-5 < >

That is the first hint of truth. Jacob capitulates to God’s will entirely and blesses his son in the name of God as we have previously seen.

The second hint of truth is caught briefly by Esau here in verses Esau is starting to take notice that he is in deep waters.

He knows that he has lost the blessing of Dad and GOD and he is noticing that his life choices were displeasing to Mom and Dad.

I wonder if they let him know their expectations? I wonder if he was taught to “not marry a pagan” but just refused to listen? No telling, but here he at least catches a small hint of truth.

But the hint of truth that matters most in history is the one in verses 10-19: Here is one of the pivotal points in Jacob’s history, in fact in human history. Jacob, the supplanter, the fraud, a man destined to be part of the greatest inheritance ever who wasn’t content to trust God for it and used deceit to get it, is now in a moment of great crisis.

As we saw, His father has given him blessing and instructed him concerning God's blessing and tells him to keep the lineage pure and get a wife from back home.

And as he heads back home to Mesopotamia, he stops to rest for the night. NO plans of where to stop, it is totally by accident where he stops.

What happens as Jacob finds a smooth stone for a pillow and falls asleep changes the course of History. He sees a ladder, the Hebrew is actually a stairway to heaven.

Do you remember the song about that from Sunday school? we are climbing Jacob’s ladder? Remember the trend of thought of our day? They say “you pass this way but the one time better live it while you’re here and celebrate with Schooner its your kind of beer.

That's it...now and here is all there is, yet we read the polls and 95% of the people in America believe in a God of some sort...a nameless God in some cases, a supreme being or higher power greater than yourself. BUT life is lived on this planet as if there is no God.

People are not in tune to the everyday awareness of Gods presence. He is remote, distantly removed as far as people are concerned, and we are frustrated.

Because as we read the Bible we read a compression of history, we forget that hundreds and hundreds of years passed between Abraham and Moses and between Moses and David and David and Amos and Amos and Jesus, and we get the idea that God was popping up every third Tuesday and ancient man had a better view of God, more psyching up, and had a sharp sense of the presence of God. But that’s not the case.

Sure Jacob had sat around the camp fire at night and heard tales of GOD, Heard the stories from Dad and Grandpa, but Jacob had never seen God, no burning bush, no pillar of cloud, no voices from heaven. He had a profound sense of the absence of God, he knew the stories, the history, but had no personal knowledge of God. That is why this encounter was so devastating to this man.

Jacob had come here as he journeyed and decided to stop at his place for the night. And he lays down to sleep. But it is not a dreamless sleep. In his dream he sees heaven open and a ladder, or stairway to heaven is lowered. And going up and down this stairway that reaches from earth to heaven, the material to the ethereal, are angels .

Now you read about this ladder and then you hear nothing else in the Old Testament. But this phrase does occur again, centuries later.

Recall in the gospel of John how the disciples meet Jesus and the great excitement as they come to believe that they have found the Messiah? And these guys gather together at the first and you recall that Philip goes and looks for his friend whose name is Nathaniel. Recall that incident? Philip runs and says “Nathaniel, we’ve found him..the Messiah.” AND Nathaniel says “Oh yeah? where did you find him?” Well, um...well he’s from Nazareth.” And remember what Nathaniel said? “Nazareth?

Yuh right babe, Can any good thing come from Nazareth? Don’t tell me you found the Messiah in Nazareth”
so Philip says “come and see.”

And as Nathaniel nears Jesus, Jesus sees Him for the first time and he says “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” There is no deceitfulness in this man, a man of total integrity.

This floors Nathaniel. “How do you know me?” Oh Nathaniel, I saw you when you were seated under that sycamore tree, and Nathaniel is overwhelmed by the power of Jesus to penetrate his own personality..”

Jesus says “Nathaniel, you are impressed because of what I said and perceived? But you ain't seen nothing yet.” I tell you that the day will come when you will see the heavens open and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus saying? saying “You are going to see in person the incarnation of Jacob’s ladder.” ME Nathaniel, you see before you the bridge, the link between heaven and earth. Heaven has come down, the gap has been bridged not because man lifted himself toward heaven, but because heaven came down to earth and here I am. The bridge, the path the ladder. You want to go to heaven you climb ME. That’s my mission.

That's what modern man lacks, an understanding of God incarnate, heaven, God come down to our midst and living among us. How is he introduced in the New Testament? Emmanuel, God with us.

Now you would think that an experience like that , with God breaking into Jacob’s life would transform him on the spot.

If you had that sort of an intense dream how could you ever be the same person?

We really don’t know when Jacob was converted, but most theologians agree that it wasn’t here. It was several years later and God meets Jacob in the night in the form of an angel and there is a titanic struggle as there is a wresting match that goes all night.

A battle for the soul of this man...and finally the angel wins and leaves Jacob crippled and Jacob finally surrenders. its at that moment that he changes..its at that time that God gives him a new name. He takes away the old name of supplanter and gives him the name Israel, one who wrestles or strives with God.

And then the promise is renewed to Jacob, the promise of a line that would bring forth the messiah, Jacob’s ladder. But at the time he sees the ladder, though God speaks the promise, Jacob still doesn’t get it.

That's the kind of God we see revealed in this book, a God who commits himself to us before we even surrender. A sovereign God , not one who hides and makes us look for him, but a God who pursues US and looks for us. Jesus said it plainly :

The son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. If you are a believer it is only because God drew you to himself. Gave you a knowledge that he is real and that you needed him to have life. He convicted you of sin and you surrendered, or you are not his.

You had to respond at heart level to his call...but what was Jacob’s reaction? Look at what he says Jacob awoke from his sleep and said “surely God was in this place and I did not know it.”

That's the experience of modern man. God is here, Christ is here, he has promised us his everlasting presence confess in our creeds that he is never absent from us, but we live as if he were not here. We live as if God were remote and removed from our lives...even though he has promised to be with us.

Surely God is in this place and we don’t know it. And Jacob exclaimed “How awesome is this place, this is Bethel this is the house of God. This is the gate way to heaven. And that place where that rock was placed became one of the most important early central sanctuaries exceeded only in importance by Jerusalem itself. Because in that place and in that time the gap was bridged in the middle of the night and one man became aware of the presence of God.

Remember the time when Elisha is a Dothan up in the hills and the Syrian army comes to get him? Because he is checked at every move by Israel’s king..and a servant says ..to the king of Syria..its Elisha the prophet that’s the problem..he tells the king of Israel what you say in your bed chamber..so the king of Syria surrounds Elisha's position and Elisha is sleeping and the servant wakes him up...Uh Elisha , uh we are surrounded..and Elisha says “don’t worry boy, there are more of us than of them...and the servant says Uh sir, sir are you awake? There are two of us and a HOST of them...and then Elisha says “Oh God, let him see...let him see..and in 2 Kings 6 :17 we read:

And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

For that one instant the servant was given the privilege to view the presence and transcendence of God. That is something that we lack and need to cultivate, not to physically see God, but to have a spiritual discernment that we live in a world where God is not absent. We need to ask that God would give us the eyes to see his presence-so we may say “How awesome is this place...God is here and I knew it all the time.

We are busy busy busy and if we are honest, we do not take time to just sit still with God. We are driven to accomplish, driven to be doing, but we need ,like Mary in the story of she and Martha, to choose the better part ..and spend some time just sitting before Jesus...reading his word and meditating on Him, Thinking about him...exploring him...and asking him to open our eyes.

Lord. we DO we really Do want to know that you are here and this is an awesome place.